There are a lot of companies and organizations listening online. Everyone seems to have tools pointed at the web, mining data on their brand and customers. All of this adds up to a lot of information and some good business results. Look at Dell or Starbucks.

So, in all of this listening are customers really being heard?

Listening has the intent of gathering information, connecting, and paying attention.
Hearing is about comprehension, understanding, and perception.

Semantics? Maybe. My point is there are two sides of this online equation. If companies listen. Hopefully customers are heard.

Okay, so not every customer will be heard. But what should a business do?
Here are a few ideas:

• Simply ask. Ask customers publicly or privately if they felt heard.
• Notice customer transformations. Do you see negatives turned to positives in interactions?
• Look for advocacy. If you move beyond paying attention and customers are heard, they become advocates. Are customers acting as your ambassadors, answering questions before you respond, and defending your organization?

Hearing Example:
I wrote this post, mildly griping about AT&T and their customer data. A few days later, someone from AT&T follows me on Twitter. We have an interaction and I get a response.

I feel heard. Closed loop.

How are you tracking Social Hearing?

Photo credit: BL4d3RuNr

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There is this big company that just started offering "Real Fruit Smoothies." Except their main business is burgers.

Another company, Jamba Juice, maker of real fruit smoothies, recently announced a Cheeseburger Chill Smoothie.

Take a look:

Okay, Jamba Juice is not really making smoothies from cheeseburgers. But they are being creative in reacting to a potential new competitor.

Let’s break down their responsive marketing:

• Humorous video to counter the competitor
• Microsite with messaging that reinforces their brand identity
• Promotional coupon on the mircosite to get consumers to take action

• Shareability on the site to the usual social media suspects

I think it’s an integrated campaign. They are building awareness and driving people to buy more smoothies, the real kind.

SOCIAL MEDIA CHECK-UP:
Facebook: Good (lots of likes)
Twitter: Fair - looks like it could use more engagement.
Email:  Not sure. Could reach out to fans, share the video, and build more loyalty.

What else would you add? Would you take action based on this campaign?

Hat tip to Andy Sernovitz for pointing this one out!

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The buzz today in business is engagement and listening. Social media tools have made it easier for companies to listen to what customers and prospects are saying. Listening helps business monitor complaints, find fans, track competition, and stay in touch with industry trends.

This is great information to have at our fingertips, right?

Here’s the deal though, having spent some time using free and pro listening tools, I see a few problems.

1. Data overload- Yes tools are getting better at helping find data that matters, but there is still a lot of information that needs a set of human eyes
2. Time shortage- Unless you have a huge budget and FTE’s dedicated to online monitoring, you will have extra work on your hands doing this listening work
3. Hearing-impaired- Are we really hearing people on the other side? Or is this like a game of telephone?

We need tools that cut through the data to find meaning. We need technology that helps us connect with relevant conversations. We need deliberate practices that help the human touch come through all of this monitoring, collecting, and tracking.

I’ve yet to find the perfect tool to help a business really hear, unless you count sitting across from a real person.

Any suggestions?

Image credit: dno1967

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Our camera battery died and Target doesn’t carry it anymore. My wife goes into National Camera. We had no idea how much batteries were–sheesh.

The salesperson quickly intercepts Heather (possibly on his way to the restroom), finds the right battery, and proceeds to ring up the sale. Funny thing, Heather hesitated with the sticker shock of a battery and mentioned she might just want a new camera? She also told the salesperson that she uses a camera a lot for blogging. A few cues.

 
He didn’t bite, not even in an annoying way. It turns out he just wanted to sell the battery. He barely asked any questions to learn more about the prospect. Once the sale was made he did not ask for an email address. They have a newsletter AND we’ll be in the market for a better camera eventually. I think this person wanted the quick sale (and possibly the bathroom) but missed out an opportunity for a long-term customer. They also missed the opportunity to connect beyond that one battery shopper.

Here are a few ideas for NC:

• Give customers some space and then start with questions
• Listen. Listen some more.
• Know your audience. If you hear words you don’t know, ask questions.
• Be mindful of social media. Here I am writing secondhand about my wife’s experience. People are sharing more and more. You are always on.
• Extend the relationship. NC has mention of email and Facebook on their site, why not ask people to join in the store.

What would you add? How about your business? What are you missing?

Photo credit: Steve Keys

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Since the dawn of time we have formed groups of people. Today we have the ability to build online and offline community around ideas that we care about.

So, why do we form community? What motivates us to connect?
I asked people here and on Twitter and heard some themes:
-Support
-Protection
-Sharing ideas
-Belonging
-Acceptance
-We don’t want to be alone
-Significance
-Shared purpose or cause

Sounds pretty core to being human. If you’re building community online, keep these in mind. People are people. Not fans or followers. They want to belong, share, and feel significant.

What would you add?

Image credit: Szift

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I’ve been quiet lately due to some exciting changes. Watch for more soon!

I’m heading to SOBCon today to connect with some amazing people.

Take care,

Tim

Tags: update.

Want to change the world? Kevin Hendricks does and his new book might give you some ideas. I had the opportunity to connect with Kevin about his book Addition by Adoption. He uses social media and everyday life to tell a hilarious and moving story. Read on:

Kevin, tell me about yourself:

I live in St. Paul, Minn., with my wife, two kids and two dogs. Of course that equation is changing—we’re starting the process to adopt again. I’m a writer, editor and web geek. By day I hang out with my kids (Lexi is 4, Milo is 1.5) and by night (and naptime) I do work through my freelance company Monkey Outta Nowhere. I do writing for all kinds of clients, the most well known of which is probably the church communications blog, Church Marketing Sucks.

So, what is Addition by Adoption about?

It’s a collection of Twitter posts about my kids, the causes we care about and our adoption journey. It runs the gamut from silly things a three-year-old says to challenging observations about the needs in the world. It sounds odd to think of a story being told in 140-character chunks, but it actually comes together in a fairly natural way. You get a pretty good glimpse of what it’s like to raise little kids and go through the adoption process.

What made you decide to write this book?

It didn’t start as a book. It started as a bunch of Twitter posts. As a work-at-home dad trying to find the balance between productivity and parental neglect, I found posting comments and observations on Twitter to be cathartic. It gave me a way to connect with the outside world. Then lots of people started commenting on those nuggets of silliness and telling me I needed to collect them into a book. The idea grew on me and I thought it’d be the kind of thing my family would enjoy. But as I pulled together tweets on potty training triumphs, I kept coming across tweets about our adoption story. I realized this wasn’t about funny things kids say and parenting and all that, it was a much wider story. Even beyond adoption, it was a story of how Milo widened our worldview and helped us to see and embrace other causes. Even though it’s about the day to day and our specific family, it became bigger than ourselves.

Can you talk about the writing and publishing process?

The writing process was already done because the tweets had already been written. The bigger task was editing and curating the thousands of tweets I’ve posted since 2007 into a cohesive book. In the end something like 500 tweets made it into the book. That’s probably what sets it part most from anything else out there—this isn’t just an archive of my Twitter feed. I cut out all the fluff and irrelevant stuff and got right to the heart of the story. The self-publishing experience has been pretty easy. Print-on-demand publishing makes the act of getting a printed book in your hands relatively simple. Anyone can do it. Of course you also need a manuscript, editing, proofing, layout and cover design. Thankfully I do a few of those things for a living (though my wife told me she did spot a few typos—I told her not to tell me things like that). I also had incredible help from Ronald Cox on the layout and Brian White of TriLion Studios on the cover. They really made the book look good, which is something I couldn’t do myself. Of course then you need to spread the word—books don’t sell themselves. So except for all that hard work, it’s easy.

What do you want readers to walk away with?

I want readers to walk away from this book knowing that we can change the world. That sounds so hokey and idealistic, and admittedly I’m a pretty idealistic person. But I think it’s true. Just like we face day-to-day challenges, we also have day-to-day opportunities to make a difference. You don’t change the world overnight, but you also don’t have to change the world with some grand gesture. You change the world in everyday actions. Maybe it’s bringing awareness to clean water issues or helping a homeless person or showing some love to your next-door neighbor. Shaving my head for my 30th birthday didn’t change the world, but I bet it changed the worlds of the 130 people who now have clean water. The story of this book is told 140 characters at a time. That’s one tiny story—and all those little pieces add up to a complete story of the book. That’s how we change the world—one tiny step at a time.

How can we help?

You can change the world by buying my book. Wow, that sounds awful. I hate saying it like that, but in a tiny way it’s true. A portion of the proceeds from the book will go to charity: water to build a well in Ethiopia. Clean water can be the difference between life and death, so in a very real sense you’re changing the world for people. You can also tell your friends about my book and spread the word. This thing is self-published, so I don’t have any marketing machine or publishing empire behind it. It’s just me. I need your help. But let’s move beyond my little book. There are causes championed in the book that are so important—adoption, water, homelessness. Adoption is a big one. Do what you can to support adoption. Consider it yourself. Support those involved in it—whether it’s kids, birth parents, adoptive parents, etc. Above all you need to find your own cause and fight for it. If we cared as much about a single cause as we do about our favorite sports team or our current hobby the world would be a different place. I don’t mean that to shame anyone, just to give a comparison. How cool would it be if people rallied around their favorite cause, whether it’s adoption or water or domestic violence or whatever? You don’t need to do full on body paint, but a tailgate party for good? Sign me up.

Make sure to check out the book here.

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If you are like me you have joined a handful of social networks. Think about how much time you really spend on each of them. Yeah, probably not much except for a few favorites?

In my experience, I get an invite to a new network, usually from a friend. I might join, set up a profile, add some friends, follow some people, make a few connections, and then bookmark for later. The challenge is the later part. I’m finding that I don’t go back very often if at all.

It’s not the topics or the user experience. Those are all pretty good. I think it’s the activity.

I end up going where the action is and where I’m connecting most with people. We tend to invest time in relationships (and networks) where we are noticed.

What do you think?

Tags: networks, time.

1. Get your voice out there. If you are not using your voice you will not be heard, or maybe even ignored.
2. Connections. You will find people that want to connect with your story.
3. Thinking. Blogging challenges your thinking and in the end that can help you think more clear.
4. On the record. What do you want to leave behind? A blog can be a place to record your thoughts and stories.
5. Looking for business? A blog is a place to stand out and be remarkable, to start a conversation with customers.
6. Action. When you blog and write you are taking an action. You are no longer just watching. Get in the game.

What would you add?

Image credit: *clairity*

Tags: thinking, voice, writing.

How do you know when you see great work? Is it an emotional response. A connection. Joy. Maybe all of these.

I just want to take a moment to notice some of the great work I’ve seen lately. These people are making a maximum contribution to this world:

• Maikel van de Mortel- I see him bringing people together in conversation daily and challenging status quo (take a look at this amazing stuff)
• Rick Mahn- Building community and pioneering social media behind the firewall
• Two newer bloggers that I’m following and seeing great content- Nicole Harrison and Lisa Grimm

If someone’s work moves you, notice. And thank them. 

Image by: ishrona

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